CENTER FOR COMPUTATION & TECHNOLOGY

BATON ROUGE – Today's college students are armed with blogs, cell phones, iPods and numerous other modern communication devices – a technological advancement that is changing the concept of higher education as we know it. John L. King, the vice provost for Academic Information at University of Michigan, gave an IT Eminent Lecture Series on behalf of the LSU Center for Computation & Technology, or CCT, Thursday, May 3 to discuss the transformation and future of higher education. King described the evolution of universities, saying the modern education system has its roots in Islamic culture, when the Umayyad Dynasty began translations and collections of classic texts. Throughout the European monasteries, education began to take hold, then flourished during the Renaissance. As universities such as Oxford and Harvard came about, institutions of higher learning were considered refinement for young men and led to the rise of scientific studies. Beginning in 1875, infrastructure, particularly development of the U.S. railroad system, led to creation of many land grant colleges and universities. After this point, universities were seen less as a luxury for wealthy young men and more as a vehicle of strength for the states where these institutions were located. This mentality lasted until around 1990, when the rise in other kinds of infrastructure, particularly advances in information technology, began changing the concept of colleges and universities. “We are not the same,” King said. “That leads us to ask, ‘who is in today's learning population?'” King cited examples in how the current college student population differs from those of previous generations. Older students are participating more often, and students are more likely to commute to school rather than attend residential colleges. Students also are paying a greater share of tuition costs than in previous years, leading today's college population to view itself as customers rather than students. However, the biggest change affecting today's college students are the social changes of modern technology. “Infrastructure is becoming ubiquitous,” King said. “People are always in touch.” King believes that extended communication leads to extended social networks, which means more people are learning by extension. For example, students who learn something today can text message that information instantly to friends and family, sharing their knowledge. King concluded by noting that technology is causing drastic supplemental effects, and colleges and universities will need to change with the times to avoid becoming obsolete. “We will still have universities, but the model is changing,” King said.